Slow Greek Courts Lag Behind in Rulings With 50-Month Verdict Delays

Greek courts take an average of 1,580 days or 50 months to reach a final ruling in a case, placing it in the 155th position in the world among the countries that delay trials, said Supreme Court Judge Christoforos Kosmides, presenting data from the World Bank.

The judge’s remarks come ahead of a conference, organized by the Association for Judicial Studies, titled “The (Dys)functioning and (In)effectiveness of the Civil and Criminal Justice System” to be held Sunday, October 9.

During his speech about the organization of Greece’s judicial services, Kosmides said that apart from the slowness of the justice system, the European Commission has also released data showing its ineffectiveness and Greece has collected the largest number of convictions on this issue from the relevant EU regulators.

“It’s unacceptable to invite someone at 09:00 [to attend a trial] and tell him at 15:00 that the trial of his case has been postponed,” he said and proposed establishing an “effectiveness indicator” for every judge on an annual basis.

Kosmides also noted that all this happens despite the fact that “all judicial employees receive, on a monthly basis, a significant bonus for the speedy handling of cases.”